locks!?!?
Automatic locks are `interesting’!! As we approach a lock there is a wire across the canal with a tube hanging from it. The idea is to pass close by and twist the tube - this triggers the lock into action! A yellow light flashes to let you know that your request has been registered. The water then begins to flush out of the lock before the gates open and a green light beckons you in. On the approach, one of us has to jump ship onto a concrete platform just before the gates. Whilst one of us [usually Paul] takes the boat in, the other [usually Sue] has to run up the stone steps clutching a boat hook. Having left ropes draped over the rail, you have to reach down, hook up the stern rope and wrap it round a bollard to help stop the boat. At almost the same time you have to run forward, reach down for the bow rope and also wrap it round another bollard.
After all this frantic action, the person on the top has to pull the lever which sets off the next part of the cycle. The lock gates close, the paddles close down…and then all hell breaks loose as the lock starts to fill with tremendous speed - the water rises at more than a metre a minute! This surge produces an amazing current as the water boils!
Once safely `up’, another pull of the lever, a deep breath and the gates open to return us to the tranquil waters on the other side!!
Now that may sound relatively o.k. but….with higher water levels, the locks, as you approach, are just a watefall producing a strong current in the canal. When the cycle starts, the waterfall stops but the excess water passes through culverts at the side, prodcing a cross current. The gates then open to reveal another waterfall at the other end of the lock producing an even stronger current. Trying to control a boat whilst reducing speed is not easy, jumping from the boat under these conditions is not easy, getting close enough for me to jump and not hit the side is impossible! Nobody has fallen in …yet. But there have been near misses and we bear the scares with some nasty scratches on the hull.
But, on a lighter note….we have recently climbed a lock staircase of 4 consecutive locks. Rather than repeatedly going through the jumping off bit, I decided to cycle up the tow path between the locks. Just imagine…crazy English woman on funny little boat-bike, clutching a boat hook….???
After all this frantic action, the person on the top has to pull the lever which sets off the next part of the cycle. The lock gates close, the paddles close down…and then all hell breaks loose as the lock starts to fill with tremendous speed - the water rises at more than a metre a minute! This surge produces an amazing current as the water boils!
Once safely `up’, another pull of the lever, a deep breath and the gates open to return us to the tranquil waters on the other side!!
Now that may sound relatively o.k. but….with higher water levels, the locks, as you approach, are just a watefall producing a strong current in the canal. When the cycle starts, the waterfall stops but the excess water passes through culverts at the side, prodcing a cross current. The gates then open to reveal another waterfall at the other end of the lock producing an even stronger current. Trying to control a boat whilst reducing speed is not easy, jumping from the boat under these conditions is not easy, getting close enough for me to jump and not hit the side is impossible! Nobody has fallen in …yet. But there have been near misses and we bear the scares with some nasty scratches on the hull.
But, on a lighter note….we have recently climbed a lock staircase of 4 consecutive locks. Rather than repeatedly going through the jumping off bit, I decided to cycle up the tow path between the locks. Just imagine…crazy English woman on funny little boat-bike, clutching a boat hook….???
posted by Sue at 6:29 AM
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